Rawene Masonic Hotel takes a stand against pokies

Rawene Masonic Hotel has removed all pokies from its premises after a woman left her baby outside to gamble.

Rāwene's Masonic Hotel has got rid of its poker machines after a young mum left her baby outside while she gambled.

Owner Glen Dick said it was not the first time children had been left alone outside while their parents played, but none had been as young as this one.

A young local woman, an occasional customer but not a big gambler, had come in early one afternoon, withdrew $20 by eftpos and began to play, Mr Dick said. A minute or two later he heard a baby crying.

The infant had been left outside in a capsule.

Mr Dick asked who the baby belonged to, and when the young woman came forward he asked her to leave.

"That sort of told us that we don't need (poker machines) here any more," he said. Last weekend he posted on the hotel's Facebook page that it would immediately cease being a gaming venue. The Facebook was response was overwhelmingly supportive.

"Well done. It is an amazing and courageous step you have taken for your community and hopefully for more businesses to follow," one said.

Good on you Rawene Masonic Hotel. I hope more establishments follow suit.

— Sonya Cole (@sonyacole) May 28, 2018

Ngā Manga Puriri manager and problem gambling practitioner Marino Murphy agreed.

"It's the right decision. I think it's awesome," she said. Problem gambling was much more common than people realised.

"It's huge, it's bigger than big. And no one gets to hear about it until something like this happens," she said.

At last report the hotel's seven machines had been unplugged and were awaiting removal.

"If these gaming machines can influence people to this kind of behaviour, then we want nothing to do with it, and we hope we have the support of our community for our decision," Mr Dick said. The decision would cost the business about $1000 a week.
"But we have looked at other avenues of replacing that. We'll get there," he said.